The Girl Before You
by Zenkx
Summary: Sheesh... 2nd Twilight fanfic. Again dedicated to my sister. Honestly, one more Twilight fanfic and I'm gonna puke. Boredom is such a horrible disease.
1. Introduction Author's Notes

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Sheesh, another Twilight fanfic. Something is definitely wrong with me. I must be sooooo bored at work that I was able to write this.**

**Anyway, here is my Second Twilight fanfic (but first fanfic borne out of boredom).**

**This one is still dedicated to my sister, Lesley (I'm using her real name now) and to all the nurses who are addicted to Twilight.**

**Happy reading, and bad nightmares for me.**

**(And yes, I happen to be anti-Twilight… but I guess I'm pro-Lesley, which is why I was able to make this without puking. XD)**

**Oh, and my sister's name is not really Lesley Lockhart, and we're not from Maine either. I just used the name Lockhart because I was watching Tifa Lockfart from FFVII while I was making this.**

**Edward Cullen and Twilight are of course, the intellectual property of Stephanie Meyer.**


	2. Chapter 1

"There was… another woman before me, isn't it?"

Edward Cullen looked down at his wife, Bella, his topaz eyes flashing in surprise. "Why do you say that?"

Bella shrugged, "I… saw it once, when I opened my shield." She said, referring to her vampire power of creating and retracting an invisible mental barrier. Edward's eyes flashed once more in shock, as his arm around her caressed her shoulder. He gazed up the ceiling, watching the shadows as he sighed, "Yes… there were many. But only one… was special."

Bella shifted from his grasp, so that she lay on his chest, her fingertips caressing his neck as the other held up her head. "Tell me about her."

He shook his head, "No. I can't. I'm sorry, Bella…"

"We are husband and wife." She said, holding up the lavish ring that encircled her ring finger, "We're not supposed to have any secrets with each other, remember?"

There was a hint of fear and hesitation that came across Edward's eyes now, and Bella saw it. She bent over and kissed his lips as she whispered, "Whatever you tell me, I'll understand it."

Edward sighed as Bella kissed him again, and he grinned a little, "No use arguing with a bribe like that." Bella laughed as Edward straightened from their bed. He turned to face her.

"This… happened a long time ago, Bella. Decades before I met you. What I'm about to tell you is the reason I've been very cautious towards you when you were human. I hope that after this, you… won't think that you married a monster."

Edward's face was serious, and his eyes seemed to gleam with sadness. Bella shook her head as she reached out and touched his cheek, "I'll never think that, Edward…"

He smiled and held her hand on his face, before removing it and clasping it in both of his hands as he told his tale.


	3. Chapter 2

"Nurse! We got another one here!"

A girl with jet black hair immediately took her bag of medicines as a group of men carried another stretcher into their hospital. She scratched the tip of nose through her mask as she came around them and looked down at the bare chest of her male patient. "What do we have here?"

"The kid's name is Edward Anthony Masen." One of the orderlies said as they laid down the patient at one of the beds. "One of the doctors said he found him…"

The nurse clicked her tongue, "Spanish flu again… damn it, we're running low on medicines as it is." She turned around and shouted, "Somebody get me some towels here!"

The patient coughed suddenly and spat out a glob of blood, hitting the nurse on her blouse. The orderlies backed out, "Jesus Christ!", one of them said. But the nurse merely continued to tend to the patient.

As one of the orderlies gave her a bunch of cold towels, the nurse, Lesley, used them to wipe down her patient, and as she did, she couldn't help but be drawn by the boy's bronze hair and green eyes. She smiled as the green eyes focused on her.

"Am I… dead?" The boy said, his voice raspy from coughing.

She shook her head, "No, Mr. Masen. You're not dead yet. My name is Lesley Lockhart, I'll be your nurse from now on."

The boy smiled a little, "I could've sworn I was dead. I thought you were an angel… you're pretty enough to be one."

Lesley laughed, "There will be prettier angels in heaven. But I'm hoping it'll be a long while before you meet them." She continued to clean him of dried blood as she shushed him, "You try to rest. Dr. Cullen will come and see you soon."

Edward smiled at her again, "I'd rather stay awake and watch you."

She laughed again as she shook her head, but she said no more as she cleaned him, and injected some medicine. She was too preoccupied with his medication that she didn't notice another man peek over her shoulders.

"Excellent work, Ms. Lockhart."

Lesley straightened up suddenly to see the Dr. Carlisle Cullen, his youthful face smiling at her. She bowed a little and stood aside to let the doctor through. "Dr. Cullen, this is…"

"Edward Masen, as I remember." Dr. Cullen said as he took out his stethoscope and listened to the boy's breathing, "His mother, Elizabeth, talked to me about him. She died a few minutes ago of the Flu as well…" He straightened up and looked at the boy's face only to see that he was sleeping. "Good, he didn't hear about the news on his mother. Poor child…"

"Yes…" Lesley whispered in agreement, "The disease does not choose its victims. A boy such as this does not deserve to die…"

Dr. Cullen looked at her and smiled sadly, "And a girl as young as you should not be a nurse, specially in such a dangerous disease."

She looked up at the doctor and smiled, "I'm eighteen, doctor, and I'm old enough to know that the country needs me." She shook her head again as she turned to Edward, "but him… he seems so young to be dying."

"He's seventeen, as his mother had told me." Dr. Cullen said, putting his hands in his pockets. "But… his lungs are starting to fill with blood. He is, unfortunately, dying. But when will he die… I do not know. All we can do right now is to help him and ease his pain."

Lesley nodded, "Yes, doctor." But she turned to him suddenly when she noticed something.

"Doctor, why are you not wearing a mask?"

But Dr. Cullen merely smiled and said, "If God has willed me to have this disease after curing all these patients, then I shall accept it." And with that he patted her shoulder and walked off.

Edward's coughing startled her and she came to his side. He opened his eyes and looked at her, "Was that… the doctor?"

She nodded, "Yes, that was Dr. Cullen. He was the doctor that found you."

He smiled at her a bit, and a trickle of blood ran down his lips, "I heard… that my mother was dead. I guess this means… I'm dying too."

Lesley's gray eyes clashed with his green ones as she slowly nodded, "Yes… I'm afraid so, Mr. Masen."

Edward coughed, "Don't call me that. It makes me feel old. Call me… Edward."

She smiled through her mask, "Very well, Edward."

He grinned, showing his perfect teeth, but somehow tinged with blood, "It sounds better when you say my name." His eyes scanned around before settling on Lesley again. "So, tell me more about yourself, Miss…"

"My name is Lesley Lockhart, and I'm a nurse here." She started, sitting down near his bed, "I've only been here for a month. But already, I've lost so many patients…"

Edward chuckled, "That's a bad way to start a conversation with a dying man."

Lesley blinked, "Oh! Oh… I'm sorry…"

"No problem." Edward said, smiling again. His hand tightened around Lesley's wrist as he breathed painfully, but he turned and gazed at her again, "So, where did you hail from, Nurse Lesley?"

"From Maine." She said, "I lived with my parents there, until…"

"They died from the Flu too?"

She nodded, "Yes. I came here after that. My father was a doctor, like Dr. Cullen. He taught me a lot about medicine, so when I came here, I immediately entered as a nurse."

Edward's eyes furrowed, "But… aren't you a little young to be a nurse? What if you caught the disease?"

She merely sighed and smiled at him, "I'm just a year older than you, you know. Besides, like Dr. Cullen said, if God has willed me to get the flu, then so be it. I think, for me, I'd rather die young doing something I love, than dying when I'm older with the feeling that I could've done something better with my life."

He smiled and looked at her admiringly, "That's… a great way to live a life." Suddenly, he seemed saddened, "I wish I could've done something like that."

A painful fit of coughing got Edward, and coughed blood again till it flowed down his cheek. When it was over, Lesley reached out with a towel and wiped his cheek, "Well, there must be something good that you have done during your 17 years of living, Edward."

He grinned, "Well, there was this one time I helped a sick puppy get well. The poor thing got kicked by his owner and flew 2 feet." He smiled as he looked at the ceiling, reminiscing a bit. "I saw the man kick him, and it landed hard on the sidewalk. The man didn't seem to care for it after that, so I took it under my coat and took it home." He laughed a bit as he looked up at her again, "I named him Fly, because he flew when his owner kicked him. My mom wanted to name him something else, but he responded well to the name, so it stuck."

Lesley laughed at the name, but looking down at his wrist, she saw dark spots down his arms. _Petechial hemorrhage…_ she thought sadly, _he is close…_She looked up at him and saw blood coming out of his ears, running down and staining his hair red. "So… tell me, where's Fly nowadays?"

Edward shrugged, "I had to let him go." His voice sounded raspy and he breathed in deep, as if he had a hard time breathing. "With all of us gone in the house, nobody would be able to take care of him." He looked up at her and smiled, "When you see him, take care of him for me. He's a black dog, with one gray eye and one blue. And when he pants, his tongue hangs to the left, like this." Then he grinned and let his tongue roll down, and it was tinged with red from blood.

She laughed again, "Ok, when I find him, I'll take good care of him for you."

He chuckled, "Thanks." Then he seemed to lay down his covers and sighed contentedly, his eyes blinking, "I feel lightheaded and sleepy…"

Lesley blinked and took out a stethoscope out of her bag. Edward watched her as she put the earpieces on and listened to his heart. Tears formed in her eyes and she slowly lowered her device. "Your… heart is slowing…"

"I'm…. dying…?" Edward asked, feeling his own breath getting shallow. His vision was starting to darken.

"Yes, I'm afraid so… Edward." She said, and her tears started falling down from her eyes. She sniffed as he looked at her.

"It's kind of nice…" Edward said, looking up at her.

"What is?"

"Seeing someone grieve for me." He said, smiling a bit, "It… makes me feel like… I did something good."

She sniffed again, "You did. You saved a dog's life, Edward."

He shook his head a little, "No, more than that." He raised his hand and touched her face. "I made you happy… here, in a place of death and sickness.. I made you happy, just for a little while."

She smiled as she took his hand, "Yes, you did."

He smiled again, and he dropped his hand to his side, still clinging on to her hand. He blinked and grinned a little, "Wow… think I just realized something. I did something I love.", he said, his voice barely a whisper now

Lesley stood up and leaned towards him so she could hear him, "What's that?"

He smiled peacefully at her, "I loved you. Even if it was for a few minutes, I learned to love you."

Her tears fell in torrents now, and taking off her mask, she kissed his lips a bit. It only lasted for a few minutes, but to her, it seemed like an eternity. When she drew back, Edward was still smiling at her.

"I can… die happily… now…"

A silent rush of air left his lungs, and his eyes remained open. The small smile on his lips remained and his breath finally stilled. Lesley stood up now, sobbing, as she let go of his hand that was slowly but surely starting to get cold.

"Lesley, we must move his body now to make way for a new patient."

She turned and saw Dr. Cullen, who seemed to have seen the last few moments of their exchange. She stood aside, and orderlies covered Edward's face and body with a blanket. As they rolled the body towards the morgue, Dr. Cullen and Lesley followed it slowly, as if in a funeral march.

"Lesley …" Dr. Cullen said as they walked, "You removed your mask when you kissed him. You know what that means."

She nodded, "I shall contract the flu in a few days. I know, doctor."

He sighed, "It would seem such a waste, if you would die to be so young, Lesley. All because of a man…"

"I know, sir." She said, still looking at Edward's still form under the blanket. "But if God wanted me to have this disease, then…"

"So be it." Dr. Cullen smiled, "I said that to you didn't I?"

She nodded, "Yes sir."

They stopped at the morgue then and the orderlies brought the body inside. Dr. Cullen and Lesley stopped by the door.

"I can't let you in anymore, Lesley." Dr. Cullen said. "Go home now and rest. Try to make sure that the disease doesn't get you, too. It was noble of you to make Edward's last minutes happy, but you should start looking after yourself now. I will not have another nurse of mine die because of the Flu."

Lesley looked up at him with tear stained eyes, "Yes, sir."

Dr. Cullen reached out and wiped a dry tear from her eyes, before slowly coming close and giving her a comforting embrace. To her, it seemed like a father comforting his child. She held on for a few minutes, before they let go of each other.

"You've had a rough day, nurse." Dr. Cullen said, reverting to his professional demeanor, "Your shift is over. Go home and rest. When you come back, I'll look you over and see if you have contracted the disease."

"Yes… thank you, Dr. Cullen." She said, hugging herself and heading for her things. "I'll see you in a few days."

She took her coat and purse, before finally leaving the hospital. A slight drizzle fell from the sky, making the world seem cold. She brought her coat closer around her as she walked on.

A small whimper caught her attention as she neared an alleyway. Looking around, she saw nothing but trash bins and walls, but something made her want to look closer. Still hugging herself, she went into the alley.

There was a rustle of trash and Lesley started, but something sparkly made her stop. She kneeled a bit, only to see that the sparkly thing was actually a gray eye. She held out her hand and waited.

A small puppy slowly came out of the darkness, wet with rain and looking timidly at her. It was black, with gray and blue eyes, and it had a blue collar around it. It came close and sniffed at her outstretched fingers, before finally coming over and licking her wrist. She slowly scooped the puppy into her arms and looked at the collar.

"Let's see here… what's your name?" She said, looking at the dog tag and gasping softly, "_Fly_?! Well, I'll be… you're Edward Masen's puppy!"

At the sound of Edward's name, the little puppy barked and wagged his tail. It licked at her face now, and she giggled as she started walking again, the dog snug underneath her arm and coat.

"Well, Edward told me to look after you. And so I shall. Are you hungry, Fly? Come on, let's get something to eat…"


	4. Chapter 3

"What happened to her after that?" Bella asked.

Edward sighed, "She never came back to work after that. Just a few days later, she died of the Flu as well." He looked down at her, "She contracted the disease during our interaction. It turns out that her immune system was severely compromised due to fatigue. She died in the same bed that I lay on at the hospital."

"I'm sorry to hear that." She said again, stroking Edward's cheek.

"I was a vampire by the time Lesley died." He said, "I was able to attend her funeral. Nobody knew I was Edward Masen. Even the orderlies who brought me in and brought me to the morgue didn't recognize me. Carlisle didn't attend the funeral because he was so sad. 'She had a beautiful soul', he said, 'Such tragedies always break my heart'."

"After her funeral, I told myself never to love anyone. The death of a loved one was too much for me. And when I met you, I feared that you would follow in Lesley's steps. Fragile… mortal… Death was hanging around just waiting to steal from you. And he almost succeeded, more than once."

Bella smiled, "But I'm here now, Edward. And I'm an immortal like you now. Death will no longer separate us. We're together forever."

Edward smiled as he kissed her forehead. "Yes. Forever."


	5. Chapter 4

Edward walked slowly through the old cemetery, carrying a bouquet of roses. He already knew where he was going, he just wanted to take the time and reminisce.

It has been decades since he walked through this cemetery, carrying another bouquet of flowers. Carlisle was with him the last time he came by.

Soon he stopped by the gravestone he was looking for. It was in the very last corner of the cemetery, nearing a small forest, with wild roses flowering around it. The bushes were trimmed and was kept well, as if it was always tended with by a careful hand. The gravestone was clean, and it read:

Lesley Lockhart

Born: February 7th, 1963

Died: November 5th, 1981

There is happiness to be found,

even in places of sickness and death.

There was also a small gravestone beside her, obviously for a pet. It bore the words, "Fly Masen. Died: November 5th 1982."

"So… Fly lived another year before being buried beside you." Edward said as he laid the bouquet at the gravestones. "I wonder what he died of…"

"Tetanus. He was wounded by a rusty barbed wire."

Edward looked up, though he was not surprised, to see a lady with black hair and topaz eyes make her way towards him. She wore a pink dress, and a red jacket, with a red rose clipped to her hair to prevent it from falling to her face. Although it has been decades, he could still recognize her.

"Hello, Lesley." Edward said, "Still alive, I see."

She laughed, "And you're still funny." She said as she walked towards her grave, "It's been a long time since you visited us."

"Yes, I've been pretty busy." Edward answered.

"I imagine you would be." She said, still smiling. "Having a family and all…"

He smiled, "So you've heard."

She nodded, "So I've heard. I'm very happy for you, Edward."

Edward bowed a bit, "Thank you. That means a lot to me, having our approval…"

Lesley shook her head, "You don't need my approval, Edward. You've always done things your own way. Jane showed me a picture of your daughter. She's really beautiful."

"Yes, she is." Edward said, smiling. "It's great to see you again, Lesley."

"You too, Edward." She said, "But you know, you could let your wife visit me as well. You don't have to hide me, you know. It's not like I'm some scarlet woman you should hide from your wife." Lesley laughed as she said this.

"Maybe you're right." Edward said, "But… maybe… when I'm ready."

She looked at him, searching, before she sighed and nodded, "Yes, I guess I understand." She giggled, "It's going to be quite a bit of a shock for her if she meets me. You're going to be like, 'This is the girl before you… the first girl I turned into a vampire.' "

Edward laughed, "Yes, I think I'm going to be like that…"

She smiled again, before turning to Edward and looking at him solemnly, "It's okay now, Edward." She said, "I am happy… that you saved me from death. But now, it's time for us to live our lies… even if it is for forever. You have your family, and I have the road ahead of me. The world is full of lots of things still left undiscovered, and I'm here to spend eternity looking for it."

Edward smiled at her and held out his hand, as if to touch her. But Lesley merely chuckled and took his hand, giving it a friendly shake rather than the romantic touch that Edward meant to do. He chuckled as well as he realized that she knew what he meant to do.

"Au revior, Edward." Lesley said, "I'm off to go to France."

"I've already been there, you're going to love it." Edward said as she let go of his hand. "Can I say, 'until we meet again'?"

She nodded, "Yes, of course, you can."

"Then, until we meet again, Nurse Lesley." Edward said as she stepped back.

She laughed as she waved, "If you ever need me, well.. you know where to find me." Then she pointed at her gravestone.

Edward laughed and nodded, and with a wink, Lesley jumped up, and flew to the forest behind her. He heard her land quietly, hundreds of feet before him, and run off with incredible speed. He smiled, looking down at the gravestone, before turning and heading back to the arms of his wife.


End file.
